Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. And the Environmental Defense Fund: the Vanguard in Business and Eco-Efficiency
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was founded in the 1970’s and initially their specialization was in highly leveraged transactions. But recently they have put together a remarkable proposal which focuses not only on how profitable an enterprise is, but also on the ecological impact of the companies they acquire. Green business procedures went mainstream in 2008 when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged. Issues like resource depletion and extreme consumption of water resources are an all-important part of their company mission. Eco-efficiency (the phrase was originally advertised by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD) is the methodology leveraged to achieve these goals, using policies such as reducing the intensity of materials, improving fuel economy through vehicle fleet maintenance and maximum use of renewable resources. Irrespective of the fact that the program was a huge success, people simply did not understand how far reaching the results truly were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the program and global public affairs, reviewed the first year’s figures.
Much to everybody’s surprise, Ken saw that using eco-efficiency not only served in proctecting the environment, but was increasing the the net profit from each company as well. These days, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have succeeded in getting well-nigh every associated business organization involved in eco-efficiency principles. If you look at the fact that this group of businesses is worth 86,000,000,000 dollars, you can imagine what a feat this actually was.
KKR with the Environmental Defense Fund in association with Ken Mehlman are further developing the initial project. The Climate Corps Program administered by the Environmental Defense Fund is a great illustration of this, it campaigns for eco-efficient techniques to MBA interns.
KKR and Ken Mehlman have made the effort to create metrics which manipulate resources. With this information available, any business can evaluate their everyday activities and find out where they can improve while at the same time permitting them to see how green they are. Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have made cutting back their environmental impact more attractive for businesses all over the world. Their radical developments have simplified the procedure for organizations in every industry and illustrated that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of negatively impacting our planet.
